Pulling into Nelson we had to check out the hostels available before settling in - fortunate that we did this since the first one we visited didn't seem to have been cleaned or renovated since the 1960's, stale smoke filling the air, we left certain that anywhere would be better. We dropped into the YHA and were instantly convinced of its benefits, price not coming into the equation.
We had decided to stay in Nelson until the weekend having opted to visit the local market here rather than the one in Wellington on the same day. This meant finding activities to fill a few days so we paced ourselves; we headed out for a quick wander around the town and after a small loop returned to the hostel. They happened to have two pianos available for use at the hostel so I was kept entertained, and the television filled the other gaps in time.
Next afternoon we went for another walk, expanding our slow loop of the City, this time taking in the library as well - we had to tackle the issue of accommodation and transport for Fiji which clearly was going to take a bit longer than we had expected, an understatement at best. We'd also gone on the 'Art Walk' of the area, taking in atleast half of the galleries and shops mentioned. This included a small knitting collective, 'Lava Glass' workshop where the owner explained his beginnings and work which was fascinating given the individual styles of his work, and just next door Jens Hansen the jeweller responsible for the Lord of the Rings 'One Ring' and other pieces. Not as fascinating as it might sound, more or less just a jewellers shop displaying his and other designers pieces along with the obligatory 'LOTR counter.' We'd taken in a fair bit of the town, even finding a music venue set in a yurt, and chasing 'clues' to a local competition I considered entering that were displayed in various shops and other venues before retiring for another night of piano and films.
The following day we weren't too sure how to occupy our time and didn't want to take too much of a walk out of town, so visiting the few charity / opp shops we hadn't managed to see the previous day we set off - bumping into our last host while walking. After a quick yarn we carried on and on our way to the library stopped at the cinema to see what options we had for that night and upon finding that the prices were hiked after a certain time we decided to take the chance and see a film there and then; cue 'Dark Shadows' a vampire 'comedy.' After a few hours we were back on track and at the library, slowly cutting down the list of potential accommodation for our future travel.
Finally the day we had been waiting for arrived and we headed to the market, just at the end of the road where we were staying.. After around an hour perusing the stalls of crafts and clothing we were done and hadn't purchased anything, finding the more appreciable pieces overpriced and others of questionable quality.. It was interesting to see the variety though in a way it might have been better to have visited Wellington but we couldn't regret this since we'd had a good time anyway; this left one night before we had to set off for Picton where we'd catch the InterIslander ferry to Wellington, a trip taking us to the North Island and by geographical terms a half way point in our travel!
We were up and ready to leave all in time, the cold air seeming to be inescapable even on board the coach to Picton; fortunately after only an hour we had arrived and were able to leave our bags at the terminal and collect our tickets ready to depart in a further hour. We met a nice lady from Brighton who'd left Nelson along with us and together we headed into Picton to take in what we could of the town in the time we had - which was more or less all of it! It was a pretty little place, resemblant of Queenstown in a way, in that it lay by the waterfront and the surrounding mountains dwarfed the town below.. We stopped for a coffee and were treated to a wonderful view out over the Marlborough Sound and shortly after wandered up and down the main street taking all of ten minutes.
We soon boarded the ferry and climbing to the top deck for as good a view as we could get, departed the South Island. It was a stunning view leaving, the waters ripples further adding to the beauty of the scene. The wind was still chilling and before long we were frozen enough to forgo the view for the lower decks and by the time we entered the Cook Straight we'd begun to rock a bit, leaving sleeping as the best option to deal with the remaining crossing.
We were soon pulling into the Wellington Harbour, the City slowly creeping into view with a setting sun blinding the view until the last few hundred metres. We hadn't realised that the drop off point was some way from where we had understood it to be until we were disembarking, so once we'd picked up our bags we had to catch one bus to the train station before another into the centre of town and closer to the hostel that we had pre-booked assuming it to be a few hundred metres from the terminal.
Our new friend joined us at the hostel and we shared dinner and a drink, played some music and enjoyed a warm first night in the capital..
We had in mind a few things that we wanted to do while in the city, primarily visiting the National Museum 'Te Papa' which was on the waterfront, not too far from where we were based. We set off into the town and came to the Civic Centre, a fairly recently re-developed area of the CBD, and it makes for an inspiring urban setting, art and space combining with function to good effect. The City Gallery was here and since there was no entry fee we were more than happy to spend some time inside; there were some interesting pieces, one 'immersive' inflatable.. thing.. and sculptures of varying form and design, other interactive pieces which resembled a ghostly technological jungle, and one room which although looking like a fairly typical artists studio was in fact all carved from wood - an impressive feat considering the deception. From there we moved to Te Papa, since it was late in the afternoon we only had an hour to look around, though since there are six floors we knew it was better to start early than to try and take it all in in one go; on this visit we only managed to take in the first floor, featuring 'the colossal squid' an exhibit including various skeletons of sealife and areas explaining the native flora and fauna; from there we entered the Awesome Forces section, including the 'earthquake room' where you are given a quick shake.. Not too sure on its authenticity, but the principle was there! This room covered the other forces that have forged the land as it is and will continue to, plus the overall effect on the earth over history.. By this time we were getting pretty hungry though, leaving to return the next morning.
We were invited to join some of the other guests at the hostel to have a drink that night, so we did, ensuring we'd feel wonderful the next morning when we planned to be at the museum for opening..!
Unsurprisingly we didn't make it back to Te Papa for opening, but it wasn't too far off; continuing up the building we got to see a whole array of exhibits, from a Marae (Maori meeting house) to a Waka (boat) and various other elements of the culture, moving forward in time to all kinds of settler stories and an explanation of the Treaty of Waitangi, modern culture and arts. It's true that you could spend a whole week in this place alone, we had to scan the information, relying on visual interpretations as otherwise we would have well overstayed our intended time there. It's a national treasure though, and rightly so - discussion surrounding an entry fee are rife at the moment, so hopefully this remains free to all for the benefit of everyone.
Our plan for the evening was an exciting prospect - firstly a trip on the Wellington Cable-Car, not exactly an adrenaline rush, but definitely fun and a bit different, but following this into the Carter Observatory for a planetarium show and the chance to view the sky through their telescope. The cable car has been operating for 110 years, more so as a means of public transport than for entertainment though it must have its fair share of tourist travellers en route to the Botanical Gardens or the Observatory. As we reached the top we were in for a grand view of Wellington at night, all well until you set off up the path toward the Observatory in relative darkness! We 'followed the stars' laid out on the footpath, fortunately finding our way and arriving just in time for the planetarium show - beginning with a half hour program about the weather on different planets in our solar system, not strictly fact based judging by the 'spaceship' guiding us throughout, but interesting nonetheless. We were then treated to a guide through the stars by the comedic guide before we were able to head up to the observatory and lay our eyes upon the Thomas Cooke telescope which they had focused upon Saturn! This was incredible, a real treat being able to see the planet and its infamous rings plus two moons were visible at the time.. Alongside this the lady operating the telescope was brilliantly informative, explaining the alternate methods of navigation used by the Maori and the West, both having their merits but succinctly different in their approaches - the Pacific Island approach of having '32 houses' dividing the sky and the position of the stars relative to these dictated the different tales which allowed you to navigate..
After spending a while longer stargazing and taking a quick tour round the associated museum we headed back to spend our last night in Wellington before we left for Napier the next morning.
